Weather Blog: Drought eases as winter drags on

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The seemingly never ending winter weather will drag on as the official start of spring is now just days away. Several rain or snow chances are in the forecast over the coming 7 to 10 days.

The active weather pattern has been great news for the drought stricken Midwest. The last 30 days have provided well above average amounts of precipitation for a good chunk of the Midwest. The map below from the Midwest Regional Climate Center shows parts of Jefferson, Dane, Rock, and Walworth counties with some of the highest precipitation totals in the Midwest.

Since January 1 Milwaukee has recorded 7.57" of precipitation(includes melted down snow). This total is 3.33" above average!

Comparing this to late July when moderate to extreme drought conditions covered southern Wisconsin, the wet winter has been a welcomed. Probably the most remarkable part about comparing July 31 to March 12 is that the exceptional drought conditions are now gone over eastern areas of the Midwest!

Precipitation in the forecast the next 3 weeks will chip away at lingering dryness or drought conditions over southeast Wisconsin. The next several weeks will see some of the wettest parts of the pattern repeat with chances for rain or snow about every 36-60 hours.

Next up is a clipper system that will spread moisture in our direction Friday into early Saturday. This system will move at us in a couple pieces with the first arriving Friday morning. Here is a breakdown of the precipitation type expected.

Areas north of Milwaukee county 6am-2pm.

Mix or snow, up to 1" of snow accumulation

Milwaukee and points south 6am-2pm.

Rain, wintry mix or snow possible by mid-morning. Little to no accumulation.

The second piece of energy with this system will arrive late Friday afternoon through early Saturday. A wintry mix will give way to a prolonged period of light snow with 1" or more of snow possible in many locations.

The RPM computer model forecast below shows snow totals through Saturday morning. Notice a narrow band of 2"+ of snow that includes a good part of southeast Wisconsin. This forecast band will shift around before the accumulating snow begins, so remember a slight shift north or south will have a big impact on the actual weather that occurs. Also impacting the snow totals is whether there is any rain or mix that may cut into totals. Less rain or mix would mean a better chance of accumulating snow.

Other models we look at have a little less snow during this timeframe. Either way, by Saturday morning you may be shoveling snow once again. Daytime highs this weekend will be around 10 degrees below average in the low to mid 30s.

Another chance of rain, mix or snow arrives Monday or Monday night.

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